Connection for artificial teeth and dental plates.



PATENTED MAR. 28. 1905.

S. S. BLOOM. CONNECTION FOR ARTIFICIAL TEETH AND DENTAL PLATES.

APPLICATION IILED 00T.28.1904.

swanfoz UNITED STATES Patented March. 28, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL S. BLOOM, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 785,999, dated March 28, 1905.

Application filed October 28,1904. Serial No. 230,351.

To (tZZ whont it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL S. BLooM', a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Connections for Artificial Teeth and Dental Plates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for connecting artificial teeth with dental plates, Whether said plates be of a type known as dental bridge or crown plates; and the object of the-invention is to provide a separable connection which will enable the tooth to be secured to the backing-piece that is employed to connect the tooth with the plate with the least possible use of an expensive metal, such as platinum.

To this end the invention consists in the construction substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

Of the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a plan view of a conventional form of dental bridge with a single tooth connected thereto according to my present invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail horizontal section through a tooth and the means whereby it is removably connected with the plate of the bridge. Fig. 3 represents a detail section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 represents an elevation of the tooth detached from the backing-plate. Fig. 5 represents an elevation of the backing-plate. Fig. 6 represents a section of a tooth with modified form of guide or securing plate as hereinafter described.

Similar reference characters indicate similar parts in all of the figures.

Referring first to Fig. 1, a conventional form of bridge-plate is indicated at 10, the ends of said plate being formed with caps or crowns 11, by means of Which the bridge will be supported from two natural teeth. My invention, however, is not limited in any way to the particular form of plate 10 employed, since it may be any kind of dental plate to which an artificial tooth is to be secured in such manner that if the tooth is broken it can be removed and replaced by a new one Without removing the plate from the jaw of the patient.

A backing-piece 12 is secured to the gold or other plate 10 by any suitable means, as by silver solder. Said backing-piece 12 is formed with two parallel flanges 13, which are offset from the main portion of the backing-piece sufliciently to permit the ribs of the tooth, hereinafter referred to, to be engaged with said flanges. Practically the space between the flanges 13 may be said to form a groove to receive the ribs of the tooth.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention the tooth is baked with two recesses, one side of each recess being occupied by a small platinum anchor 14, each of said anchors being in the form of a plate havingaflange embedded in the material of the tooth, as indicated in Fig. 2. The tooth when so baked will have a recess at one side of and adjacent to each anchor 14. \Vithin each of said recesses will be occupied by a plate 15, which will be soldered to an anchor 14, each plate 15 having an outwardly-turned flange at its projecting edge, said flange forming a rib 16. The plates 15 and their ribs 16 will be formed of German silver or other base metal which can be soldered to the platinum anchors 14. The reason for forming the anchors 14 of platinum is, as is well known, that platinum is a metal which will withstand the heat of the ovens in which the teeth are baked, while German silver is a relatively inexpensive metal, but will not stand such baking temperature.

When the plates 15 are soldered to the anchors 14, with the ribs 16 projecting substantially as shown in Fig. 2, said ribs are adapted to be engaged with the parallel flanges 13 of the backing-piece by a sliding movement of the tooth after entering the ribs 16 behind one end of the flanges 13, as will be readily understood by comparing Figs. 2 and 3. To prevent movement of the tooth beyond the point desired for it, the upper edge of the backingpiece 12 is formed with a flange 17, (see Fig. 3,) against which the upper edge of the toothbody 18 is adapted to engage, thereby preventing excessive upward movement of the tooth-body when it is to be engaged with the backing-piece.

a It will now be understood that when the bridge is in position in the mouth of the patient a tooth having the ribs 16 may be engaged with the flanges 13 of the backingplate in the manner hereinbefore described, moving the tooth-body to the position represented in Fig. 3, some cement having been previously applied to the interlocking flanges, so that after said cement has set the tooth will remain in the position in which it has been placed. Then if the tooth body becomes broken the cement can be picked out and a new tooth-body applied in the same way.

Instead of applying two platinum anchors and plates and ribs to a tooth-body a single recess may be formed in the tooth-body, as shown in Fig. 6, one platinum anchor being employed and a single plate 15, having ribs 19 projecting in oppositedirections from the outer edge of said plate 15. With this form the two flanges 19 Will be engaged in the same manner as above described, with properly-positioned flanges of the backing-piece similar to the form shown in Fig. 2, but with the edges of the flanges 13 more closely approacl ing each other. For a small tooth the form shown in Fig. 6 will suflice; but I prefer the two flanges and their ribs and the construction of the backing-piece as shown in Fig. 2.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is 1. Aseparable connection forartificial teeth comprising a plate or bridge-piece, having holding-ribs, a pair of platinum anchors embedded in the tooth, the latter having recesses adjacent to the anchors, and plates of relatively inexpensive metal fitting said recesses and soldered to the anchors, the said plates projecting from the back of the tooth and formed with flanges to engage the ribs of said bridge-piece or plate when slid longitudinally thereof.

2. The combination with a dental plate, of a backing-piece having parallel offset flanges secured to said dental plate, and a tooth having ribs adapted to engage said flanges of the backing-piece by an endwise movement of the ribs relatively to said flanges, the said ribs projecting from the back of the tooth and soldered to platinum anchoring means embedded within the tooth.

3. The combination with a dental plate, of a backing-piece having parallel ofl'set flanges secured to said dental plate and having an up per flange projecting forwardly therefrom, of a tooth having ribs projecting fromits back and adapted to be engaged with the parallel flanges of the backing-piece, the upper end of the tooth being adapted to abut against said forwardly-projecting flange of the backingpiece.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL S. BLOOM.

\Vitnesses:

HARRY LEDEKER, PHILIP B. FRANTZ. 

